One listen.

I queued this up in… January? Possible January, maybe February, though it doesn’t matter. I was listening to Supercar for the first time and some of what I heard I liked, and a lot I was indifferent toward. This song is one I liked, but I think I was hesitant to return to it due to that indifference. Glad I got on with it and wrote about it here as I think it’s a good song. Not the best, but it’s good. Good enough, at least.

I let whatever come forward and I think it works for the song. However, the song has this particular feel that I had difficulty in getting across. I think it’s worth really listening to in order to get an idea of what it is doing.

Supercar’s “Siren” is from Answer.

I hope you enjoy.

—

Bass, it’s just bass for a moment. Something else joins the bass and builds on its framing. It seems rapid and slow, and when percussion comes in everything is relaxed, though tight. Tight and controlled, and playing something jaunty.

When the vocals come in that second thing – a guitar – changes its mode to something that seems to spread gently. The vocals themselves are soft, floating there, but floating grounded.

The vocals stop and a repeat of the first melody as it was, and the vocals return soon after. That guitar spreads gently again, and there’s something noirish about this. Something noirish and dry, and like driving somewhere. Driving to wherever is next, maybe. Driving down a dark highway, alone in the middle of nowhere.

The first melody returns with greater detail, moving forward, and the guitar changes itself, as does the bass. However, the bass may have changed earlier, and both seem more pointed.

Sudden space. Percussion is almost centre and that guitar lets itself ring out a little frayed. Bass plays a little slower and with more space, and something seems to move to the centre and grow. That thing grows louder and spreads out in lines, looking around, stretching a little. And it shrinks back down when the vocals return.

The vocals have something a little tense in them. A little forlorn, and almost with a blank, deadened, overwhelmed stare. Looking forward to the next destination, wherever it could be, just as much as they could be looking out into the light of outside from a darkened room.

The guitar starts ringing more, playing more. Still frayed, and the vocals gain a bit more strength in them, or at least more direction. Everything is moving from a darkness and remaining within a darkness. Within a darkness that is isolating, and they keep pushing on, keep driving forward. They keep urging, and they seem to be looking to avoid inevitable intensity.

The vocals start drawing long, calling out as the guitar picks up, becomes busier. Percussion, too, and bass keeps drawing long, though starts rising, and among it all, a long sound stretching beyond what can be seen. And it all continues on, continues driving. It keeps moving, and eventually releases.

The instruments have shrunk back. They are now beyond the turning point. They keep diminishing and the path continues on, though whether anyone is still moving along it or now, it is difficult to tell. The story stopped and it is moved beyond, and with a few final notes from the guitar, the song comes to an end.